Kill and Die or Die and Kill
by notjaneausten
Summary: Excerpt: 'You're gonna die, and you're gonna turn, and you're gonna tear the flesh from her bones. In this life now, you kill and die or you die and you kill. Your choice, Milton.' WARNING: Contains references to physical abuse and main character death. Although not a CARYL piece there are a couple of references to my favourite couple; see if you can spot them! Updated now complete
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything related to The Walking Dead; that particular honour goes to Robert Kirkman and the lovely folks at AMC.

**AN: I was watching 3:16 just this afternoon and was thinking that poor Milton didn't deserve to die like that, so I kept him alive so that he can have a hero's death in some other fic. I loved the way Rick corrected Andrea at the end of the episode where she said 'them' when referring to the rest of the group and he replied; 'us'. Some dialogue has been taken directly from that episode, the rest I've filled in myself. Hope you like it!**

Philip Blake, the man called 'The Governor' by the people of Woodbury shoved his former confidant, Milton Mehmet, into the small room ahead of him and heard Milton gasp at the sight of a battered and bruised Andrea tied to a dentist chair in the centre of the room. "See, I told you that she was still alive." The Governor stated as he continued to push Milton further into the room.

"Milton?" Andrea gasped at the clearly beaten man being held against the door.

"Get over there and bring me that tray; I've no use for it in here anymore." The Governor ordered Milton, and forcefully shoved him forward. Milton hesitantly walked forward, and slid behind the dentist chair. His hands shook as he picked up the tray, spilling most of the contents onto the floor. He bent down to pick most of them up but nudged a pair of pliers closer to the foot of the chair.

"Hurry it along now, I've an appointment to keep with our new Sheriff and I wouldn't want to be late!" The Governor tapped his wrist where his watch used to rest and urged Milton to hurry back. He took the tray out of Milton's shaking hands and placed it just outside the door; his hand hovered over the tray and he finally selected a small butcher's knife and handed it to Milton.

"Kill her." He said quietly, wrapping Milton's hand around the handle.

"What?" Milton gasped in horror and tried to prise his hand out of The Governor's firm grasp.

"Kill her! Do it now!" The Governor stepped up close to Milton and let the other man see that he was deadly serious.

"No! I won't do it!"

"I told you you were gonna do it. And now you're gonna die…" The Governor thrust the blade into Milton's stomach and then pulled it out and thrust it in again for good measure. "And now you're gonna turn, and you're gonna tear the flesh from her bones." He shoved Milton away from him and laughed as the other man fell groaning to the floor; The Governor threw the knife into the room and leant down to whisper evilly into the groaning man's ear. "In this life, now you kill or you die." He stood up and crossed over to the door, turning just before he closed it behind him to address them both. "Or you die and you kill. Your choice, Milton. Have a nice day, now. Give my regards to ole Merle when you see him." The Governor smiled wickedly as he firmly shut the door and slid the bolt in place from the outside; he pressed his ear to the door where he could hear Milton's groans and Andrea's pithy screams of abuse. He chuckled to himself as he strolled down the corridor, whistling under his breath. Today was a good day; two troublemakers out of the way, leaving him free to concentrate of getting rid of Rick and the rest of his group so that he could get on with his plans for his new fortress – the prison.

-"Merle never did nothing like that his whole life." Daryl knew without even having to look up that she was there next to him, watching him cram his last few possessions in the worn rucksack. She'd been there when he came back from burying Merle and was doing the same now as she did then. Holding out her hand, watching and waiting. He reached up to grasp it firmly in his own and she pulled him to his feet. "He gave us a chance." Carol said and felt him tighten his grasp momentarily before releasing his hold completely.

Rick took one last sweep around the prison and met Michonne at the bottom of the staircase.

"We're ready." She said quietly as he descended. "The deal The Governor offered about me, you had to think about it. You had to, I get it." She accepted it and was prepared to move on, no questions asked.

"Yeah." Rick replied quietly as they started to walk through the empty cell block. "I'm sorry. I came real close."

"But you didn't." Michonne flicked her gaze over at Rick and he nodded. She sighed a little and went on. "I never thanked you."

"For what?" Rick asked as they stepped through the cell block gate and he drew it closed behind them.

"For getting me out there that day, taking me in."

"Well, if you didn't have that baby formula, I wouldn't have."

"You could have just taken the formula." Michonne stated drily and watched as a light flush settled across Rick's cheeks. Was he blushing?

"Well…" Rick ran his gaze around the empty block and then turned back to face her. "It must have been something else, then." He coughed a little to clear his suddenly dry throat. "You know, it was Carl who made the call. He said you belonged her, you're one of us." Michonne looked steadily at Rick and smiled faintly as she walked out into the sunlight of the courtyard and got into the waiting car. Rick slid into the driving seat of the Hyundai and the vehicles slowly drove down the gravel pathway leaving the prison behind.


	2. Chapter 2

So, it was to an empty yard that The Governor led his men into later that morning. Their trucks sped down the pathway, spitting gravel in their wake; and the machine guns were firing non-stop at the guard towers and into the fields. After searching the cells and the tombs The Governor's men hightailed it out of the prison when Rick's group appeared out of nowhere and ran them off. Maggie and Glenn were wearing riot gear as they appeared from up on the covered walkways and picked off a few of the Woodbury men as they ran screaming for their lives. The few that remained made for their armoured truck and sped off down the pathway. The Governor leapt into the passenger seat of his truck and ordered Martinez to follow.

Rick, Michonne, Daryl and Carol came out of hiding and Rick gestured for Glenn and Maggie to come down and join them as they stood watching the plumes of dust from the rapidly retreating vehicles.

"We did it, we drove them out." Rick sighed wearily, he and Michonne had set off a series of flash bangs in the tombs to force the Woodbury people out into the courtyard, where Daryl and Carol were waiting to shoot them down.

"We should go after them." Michonne stated quietly as she slid her Katana back into its sheath. Daryl nodded his agreement. "We should finish it." Maggie snorted and waved her hand around the empty yard. "It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it outta here?"

"He could regroup." Michonne said and Glenn sighed as he ran his hands through his sweaty hair.

"We can't take that chance. He's not gonna stop."

"They're right." Carol said quietly, stepping up to stand alongside Daryl, so that their shoulders just touched briefly. "We can't keep living like this."

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury? We barely made it back last time!"

"I don't care." Daryl stated as he shouldered his crossbow; ready to leave as soon as Rick gave word.

"Yeah…" Rick muttered in agreement. He sighed at looked up at the cellblock. "Come on, let's check the others; they should be back by now." Hershel, Beth and Carl had driven the Hyundai around the back of the prison, out of sight in the woods; where they could keep Judith away from the fighting. One whimper from the frightened baby could have wrecked the whole attempt at presenting the prison as an abandoned shelter. As they turned to walk back, Daryl let his hand brush past Carol's and felt her fingers briefly caress his own before they separated again to walk into the block alone.

"Pull ahead of them and bring them to a stop!" The Governor ordered grimly, fury etched across his face. Martinez followed his instructions and soon The Governor was striding down the road to throw open the door to the truck behind. "What the hell are you doing? We need to dig in!" He bellowed at the men piling out onto the empty road.

"It's not worth it." Paul climbed out of the truck and faced down The Governor.  
"That was a slaughter!" Karen shouted as she walked toward The Governor, throwing her hands out in exclamation.

"You bunch of pussies!" Martinez spat out and turned to mutter at The Governor. "Told you we should have handled this shit ourselves."

"And we're done fighting for a hole with a half dozen psychopaths living in it. They can keep it!" Paul shouted out, furious at the fact that The Governor had lied about the whole mission.

"You've seen what they've done. They've attacked us, killed my boy! We're going back!" Allen shouted back at Paul; only to have Karen yelling back at him.

"We are not soldiers. Want us to kill biters? Of course. But this is crazy."

"All right, go home! Think you're gonna be safe…" As the fury built up inside him, The Governor was unable to hear the warring voices and raised his rifle in the air. He shot Paul first just as the man was about to climb back in the truck and head back to the safety of the town. He then sprayed his fire all across the people he classed as betrayers and ignored their screams. Martinez jerked his head over to Bowman and the pair of them started to slip around the edge of the truck. As The Governor turned around, Allen raised his own rifle and prepared to shoot back. He was willing to return to the prison to avenge the death of his son, Ben but apparently The Governor had other plans for him. He slid his pistol out from the inside pocket of his coat and calmly fired a round into other man's head. The Governor walked out into the fields surrounding the Highway looking for anyone else that might have escaped his wrath. Karen had dragged another man's body over to cover her own and lay panting heavily under the weight. When she heard The Governor's careful tread drawing near, she held her breath, praying that he wouldn't put a bullet in her head; like he was doing to some poor unfortunate soul behind her._ Please, please, please…_ She chanted in her head as she continued to lay perfectly still, almost suffocating under the weight of the dead man on top of her. She only started to breathe again when she heard the slamming of the truck door and the engine start up. She risked a quick glance and saw that only Martinez and Bowman survived the massacre – his last two remaining henchmen now that Merle Dixon had left the ranks. She waited until they were out of sight before running over to climb up into the armoured truck; just in time as the dead were starting to rise again…


	3. Chapter 3

"Milton?" Andrea coughed as she called out weakly from her tied up position in the dentist chair; blood bubbling out of her lips as she did so. The Governor had kicked her in the ribs several times, and it was getting harder to breathe evenly. She was bleeding from the many shallow cuts that he had scored across her lower belly; each one designed to bleed freely and inflict the most pain, rather than kill her outright.

"I'm here…" He whispered as he struggled to prop himself upright against the wall, he had one hand pressed firmly to his abdomen and with the other waved at the floor behind her. "When the tools dropped, I left some pliers on the floor behind you. If you can drag…" Milton gasped as the pain took his breath away for a moment and then tried to continue. "If you can drag your right foot back you can get them." He spoke the last few words in a rush, anxious that he might pass out before he could complete the sentence.

"I'm gonna get us both outta here, and you're gonna be okay. You're good man caught in a bad situation and you don't deserve to die in this hellhole." Andrea hissed in pain and then coughed again, spitting blood out onto the floor and she dragged her foot back.

"No, I don't think so. When you get free, you are going to find something very sharp and you are going to stab me in the head." Milton shook his head and whispered weakly. "That is what you are going to do. Keep trying."

Andrea felt rivulets of blood running down her stomach and pooling into the chair beneath her. The way that she had stretched out her foot had caused the shallow cuts to split a little further and they were now bleeding profusely. Added to which each breath she took felt like fire burning in her lungs and she could taste the blood at the back of her throat. She abandoned her search for the pliers and sank back against the chair, struggling to breath. She coughed harshly and felt the air rattling in her chest.

"Punctured lung." Milton whispered faintly… Andrea nodded in agreement, that's what she had thought too; she knew that she probably didn't have long but was determined to try and save Milton. "I'm going to try and come over to you." Milton wheezed and attempted to slide down onto his front so that he could crawl over to her.

"No! Stay where you are…you're gonna bleed out if you move too much. I'll be okay once I've got my breath back." Andrea wheezed back in return and coughed again and attempted to stretch out her foot, trying to feel for the pliers; only to sink back as the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

"Liar…" Milton opened one eye and could tell by the paleness of her face that she was struggling to remain conscious. "Why did you come back after you found out your friends were out there?" He wheezed out, trying to say anything to keep her awake.

"I wanted to save everyone. Even The Governor for a while. I had a chance to kill him."

"I stopped you."

"No, this was before. I thought I was pregnant and I was so mad at him for lying about not wanting to kill Rick and the others. He was asleep, I had a knife. But I tried to stop it all another way. Because I didn't want anyone to die."

"Were you pregnant?"

"No, false alarm thank god." Andrea attempted a chuckle but it turned into a coughing fit that had Milton worried that she'd suffocate. She finally finished and when she spat out a mouthful of phlegm, he could see that it was red rather than white.

"I'm still here. I'm still alive." His quiet affirmation gave her reassurance that her scheme wasn't entirely in vain, if one person made it out of Woodbury alive then others would surely follow.

"Yeah, you are." Andrea's voice was barely more than a breathy whisper and Milton knew that if he didn't do something soon, The Governor's little speech about 'kill and die, or die and kill' would some likely become a very harsh reality. He pushed himself onto all fours and nearly screamed aloud at the agony that seemed to radiate throughout his whole body. He nearly bit through his tongue to hold it all in as he attempted to crawl toward Andrea. After making headway of about five inches, he paused panting hard and fought against the blackness that threatened to take him under. He repeated his crawl, stop, crawl, stop motions until he was close enough to be able to reach out a hand to grasp the pliers. With the last of his strength he reached up and cut through the bindings holding Andrea's right hand to the chair; he felt the blackness overtake him and as he started to pitch forward he threw the pliers across, hoping they would land somewhere on the chair. He collapsed unconscious into the ever growing pool of mixed blood forming at the base of the chair.


	4. Chapter 4

"We're gonna stay behind; just in case he returns. Make a stand; keep an eye on the kids." Glenn informed Rick as they prepared to make their run into Woodbury. Rick turned around from where he was loading the truck and glanced over at the younger man's face. He knew that Maggie had no wish to return to the small town where she and Glenn had been held captive and had been fully prepared for the two of them to make that very announcement.

"Okay, just the three of us then." Rick nodded over to Daryl who was standing next to his bike, holding a quiet conversation with Carol and then over to Michonne who was waiting patiently next to the truck. "Ready, people?" Daryl looked up and waved his hand to indicate that he would meet them down at the gate. Rick hopped up in the driver's seat and Michonne took the passenger side and they rolled down the drive to where Glenn and Maggie were waiting to lift the gate open.

"I'm comin' back." Daryl murmured quietly, placing his hand over the top of Carol's as it rested on the seat of the bike.

"You'd better, Dixon." Carol sniffed back the tears that had been threatening all morning, the last time he had gone to Woodbury he'd been captured and then hadn't returned as promised and she just didn't know whether she was emotionally capable of going through that again.

"Hey, only a Dixon…"

"…can kill a Dixon. I know…Stay safe." Carol finished his well-known saying and whispered his oft repeated mantra back to him.

"Hey, that's my line!" He protested with a smirk and after glancing around the courtyard leant over the bike to press a quick kiss against her cheek. "Stay safe, woman. Back soon." With those whispered words, he swung his leg over the saddle and roared off down the path to the gate. Carol placed her hand over her cheek and whispered into the air; "Nine lives, Pookie."

When they came across the bodies strewn across the Highway, Rick and the others knew that it was the work of The Governor. After dispatching the rising dead they discovered a lone female hiding in the armoured truck.

"Don't shoot!" Karen held out her hands in surrender as she stepped down from the truck. "He went crazy and just started shooting them all. I hid beneath one of the bodies so that he wouldn't shoot me, too. You're from the prison aren't you? Did Andrea make it okay?"

"Andrea? She's not at Woodbury?" Michonne stepped forward. "Karen, is Andrea at Woodbury?"

"No," Karen looked puzzled. "She left Woodbury a few days ago, The Governor said…Oh, God!" Karen's face paled as she realised what The Governor was capable of having just experienced it first-hand. "She went missing the same day that Milton did, no one seemed to know where either of them went…"

"Which way did he go?" Daryl stepped forward, staring at Karen. He was anxious to get moving again, not wanting to get caught unawares.

"Away from Woodbury; but there's only the three of them now. Bowman, Martinez and The Governor."

"Let's stop calling him that shall we? The man is no elected official, just an asshole with an overinflated ego. I say we forget **Blake** for a while and see if we can find Andrea." Rick looked around, emphasising the man's name and not using his trumped up title. "Karen, can you get us over your wall without making a fuss?"

"Yeah, I think so. The two people on watch are part of a newer group; a brother and sister who didn't want any part of the fighting. Said that they'd rather stay behind and look after the children."

"Brother and sister?" Rick looked over at Daryl who nodded, thinking along the same lines.

"Tyreese and Sasha; came through the prison a while back with Allen and his son, Ben. Allen's over there…" Daryl jerked his head in the direction of where Allen's body lay fallen where Blake had shot him down.

"Okay, let's go and pick up our girl." Rick headed back to the truck and they headed toward Woodbury.

**AN: Okay, one or two more chapters and then we're done. Have I mentioned that I really, really like reviews?**


	5. Chapter 5

Karen kept her word and got them through the gates at Woodbury; Tyreese was shocked that she was the lone person to arrive back without The Governor.

"Where's Allen, Karen?" He lowered his rifle as he and Sasha opened the gates wide enough for Rick and the others to slip through.

"He's dead, Ty. The Governor killed them all…" Karen broke the news that the other man from Tyreese's original group did not make it back from the prison. "Rick's looking for Andrea…have you seen her?"

"Andrea? No, she didn't make it back out to you guys?" Ty checked over and saw Rick shake his head, "Milton's gone, too. Strange how they both disappeared the same day. You think she might be holed up here somewhere?"

"Yeah, I think Blake's got her tucked away somewhere close; there's no way he would've just let her walk away; make's sense that he's got Milton tied up as well, Andrea said that he helped her get away the first time and then they ran into you in the woods." Rick kept his voice low as his eyes scanned around the darkened streets of Woodbury.

"I'll stay on the wall with Sasha while you go and take a look around with Rick and his group." Karen hopped up onto the wall and Ty passed his rifle across.

"Give us a signal if you see any sign of Blake returning; we're gonna check out the facility where he had Glenn and Maggie held up last week." Rick led the way through the quiet side streets until they entered the storage facility where they made the rescue. They drew to a halt when they saw a blood pool seeping under a metal door at the end of the corridor. Rick carefully drew back the lock and looked over at the stoic Michonne standing just to his left. "You ready?"

Michonne nodded and prepared her sword, "Open it." Rick slowly opened the door and let his eyes adjust to the dim lighting within. Michonne saw Andrea's blood soaked body lying near the door and pushed past Rick to cradle her friend.

"Andrea!" Andrea's eyes fluttered open in her gaunt face and she struggled to sit up.

"I tried…" She gasped out, Michonne saw the blood dribbling from her mouth and reached up to gently wipe it away. She could tell that her friend wasn't going to make it out of that room alive; Andrea's breaths were coming more slowly and Michonne could hear the rattling in her chest as she struggled to speak.

"Judith, Carl the rest of them…" Andrea's eyes flicked over to Rick as he crouched down so that he could look into her once vibrant blue eyes.

"Us." He said as he leant forward to pick up her hand, "You mean the rest of us." Andrea smiled faintly as she recognised the forgiveness behind his words.

"Are they alive?" She whispered, every sentence becoming harder to get out.

"Yeah, they're alive." Rick nodded as he squeezed her hand slightly before rising to his feet. Andrea lolled her head to one side so that she could see Michonne, who had tears dripping from her lashes.

"It's good that you found them; no one can make it alone anymore."

"Never could." Stated Daryl from the shadows. Andrea nodded and then gasped as she remembered the other occupant of the small room.

"Milton!" She coughed harshly, blood bubbling out and making her gag with every breath. "Please, Rick. Get him out of here…he tried to save me and Philip just stabbed him hoping that he would turn and bite me." Andrea forced the words out of her throat and gestured over to where Milton's body was lying prone under the dentist chair. Rick whistled low and Tyreese peered around the door; eyes widening at the grisly sight of the rapidly forming pool of blood. Rick gestured over to Milton and Tyreese pressed a finger lightly against his wrist.

"He's alive." Tyreese looked at the Milton's body and saw that Andrea had ripped the bottom of Milton's shirt off and pressed it against the wound to try and stem the bleeding. "Pulse is faint, but it's still there."

"Get him outta here, see what you can do before we get him back to Hershel. Spread the word; I want everyone packed and ready to go before it gets light." Rick ordered quietly.

"Go? Go where?" Tyreese's head snapped around as he prepared to lift Milton up off the floor.

"Just tell them to pack only what they can carry and be ready at sunrise." Rick snapped back and turned his attention back to Andrea. "You think you can move?"

"No, Rick. I'm not gonna make it back this time." Michonne hushed her but Andrea shook her head. "I can feel it…I can do it myself."

"No…" Michonne protested, tears freely streaming down her face as she cradled one of Andrea's cold hands within her own.

"I have to…while I still can." Andrea coughed again and when she was finished she looked up at Rick and he could see the steely resolve in her eyes. "Please. I know how the safety works." She made an attempt at a weak joke; referring back to the day in Atlanta when she had pulled a gun on Rick and not realised that the safety was still on. He smiled slightly in response and pulled his Python out of his belt; weighing it up in his hand before silently thumbing off the safety and pressing it into Andrea's clammy hand.

"I'm not going anywhere." Michonne vowed and Rick knew that she would remain with her friend until the very end.

"I tried…" Andrea whispered weakly, tears seeping out of her closed eyes to run down her blood streaked cheeks.

"Yeah, you did." Rick whispered in return, leaning over to kiss her forehead in goodbye. "You did." He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment before stepping aside to allow Daryl to make his goodbyes.

"I can do that fer ya, if ya like – kinda as a payback…" Daryl joked gruffly, wanting to see her smile at him one more time. Andrea prised one eye open and managed a small smile.

"I said I was sorry for that, you're never gonna let me forget that one, are you?" He bent down to whisper in her ear, keeping his voice deliberately low.

"Just wanted ta thank ya fer keepin' my woman alive at the farm…" Andrea drew her head back and looked at him in amazement.

"WHAT! You and Carol? Really?" Andrea said loudly, smirking at the blush that rose across the redneck's cheeks. "Guess the cat's really out of the bag now, isn't it Daryl?" She laughed and then groaned as it turned into a raspy cough; waving away offers of assistance. "Go, just go. I don't want you to have to see this. Just leave me to get this done, please."

"I said, I'm not going anywhere and I meant it." Michonne gripped Andrea's hand tightly and nodded over at Rick and Daryl who silently slipped from the room; closing the door behind them with a little click. Andrea's hand shook as she tried to raise the pistol and Michonne leant over to steady her.

"Ready?" Michonne whispered, and Andrea smiled faintly as she nodded. "Close your eyes and think of your sister, and everyone else that's waiting for you on the other side."

"Jacqui, Jim, Dale, Sophia, Shane….Amy."

Michonne flinched as she pulled the trigger and then carefully thumbed the safety back on. She leant over Andrea's still body and carefully re-arranged her hair to cover the entrance wound in her temple.

She rose to her feet and walked over to the door, she handed Rick back his pistol without saying a word. He stopped her from walking away by placing a hand on her forearm.

"We'll take her back with us; bury her next to T-Dog and Lori."

"We tend to burn the Walkers around here." Tyreese remarked as he continued to bind Milton's wounds with strips torn from his shirt.

"No, we bury our loved ones and burn the rest. Andrea was part of us, and she deserves to be laid to rest with those that loved her." Rick state quietly but firmly and Michonne nodded in agreement.

When the sun finally rose over the town of Woodbury it was to shine over deserted streets; Rick loaded everyone on board an armour plated school bus and simply told them that it was time to move on. Everyone at the prison was milling around in the yard waiting for their return and when the school bus pulled into the gates; Carol held a shocked hand to her mouth. Out of the eighty inhabitants of the town only thirty remained; the elderly, the infirm and those too young to fight.

"What's all this, Dad?" A belligerent Carl asked Rick as he saw the people stepping out of the bus and being directed into the cell blocks by Carl and Tyreese.

"They're gonna live with us now." Rick stated simply, his eyes warning Carl not to make an issue out of it. The boy simply pushed his hat back further on his head and tightened his grip around his pistol. "Carl…stop. They're just people, look at them…" Rick gestured over to where an elderly couple were helped off the bus, they were followed by a woman holding tightly to a little girl no more than two or three, with a little boy clinging tightly to her skirts; Carol immediately stepped in to lend a hand, drawn to the children. "They are the ones that didn't matter to Blake because they were of no use to him. But they **do** matter and we just need to learn how to get along."

"What about him?" Carl jerked his head over to where Michonne and Daryl were carrying the unconscious form of Milton into the cell block; Hershel following them as fast as his crutches would take him.

"Milton tried to save Andrea…she wanted us to help him in return. I don't know whether he will make it but we're gonna try anyway. That's all we can do now, band together; dig deep and carry on living for as long as we can." Rick placed his hand on his son's shoulder and tipped his chin up so that he could look into Carl's eyes. "We're gonna be okay, son. So long as we stick together and protect what's ours, we're gonna be just fine. Now come on, we've got to find a place for our new friends to sleep – I've a feeling that things are gonna get a little cosy in here from now on."

**AN – So that's it – Andrea had to die just so that Rick could make that emotional speech of forgiveness and I saved Milton, for now anyway! If you want to read more about how things get cosy in the prison – check out 'Cupid Wears a Stetson'; it doesn't follow directly on from this but does lead to Daryl and Carol being forced to share a cell…**


End file.
